2024 Student Research Case Study Challenge

Overview

The Society of Actuaries (SOA) Research Institute is dedicated to advancing education and research for the actuarial profession. As part of its mission, the SOA Research Institute recognizes the importance of partnering with colleges and universities to help develop future actuaries. With this in mind, the SOA Research Institute holds an annual Student Research Case Study Challenge, which provides an opportunity for teams of students to apply their actuarial skills on a real-world problem in a business setting.

Teams of two to five students will research a case study situation, conduct an actuarial analysis, formulate solutions, and present recommendations in a report. The work will require a team approach to identify issues and organize priorities. The team will need to understand and select from potential data sources, develop models with appropriate accuracy metrics, summarize relevant results, and then present recommendations in a written format for a target audience of executives from a broad array of professional backgrounds. Teams can look forward to showcasing their creativity while building synergies within an actuarial setting. Teams are encouraged to seek guidance from a faculty advisor to assist them in their overall approach.

Submissions will be graded by a panel of SOA Research Institute judges, and the teams with the top submissions will be invited to present their submissions to the judges virtually. All teams meeting a minimum standard will be recognized in official SOA publications and team members will be awarded a certificate of participation.

Interview with the Winners (Podcast)

Listen to the "StatSmart Solutions" team (from the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia) discuss their strategy for winning this year's challenge.

2024 SOA Research Institute Student Research Case Study Challenge Winners

Finalists

• First Place: University of New South Wales, Australia - StatSmart Solutions (winning a $5000 USD grant)
• Second Place: University of New South Wales, Australia - Luminous Lake Lifeguards (winning a $3000 USD grant)
• Third Place: Salisbury University, U.S. - Mew Consulting (winning a $2000 USD grant)
• Ball State University, U.S. - Cardinal Consulting
• University of New South Wales, Australia - Apex Consulting
• University of New South Wales, Australia - Lumarian Consulting Group

Semifinalists

We are pleased to announce that a total of 17 teams from the following universities, listed alphabetically by university, have advanced to the semi-final round of the 2024 Challenge:

• Ball State University, U.S.
• Hunan University, China
• National Economics University, Vietnam
• Salisbury University, U.S.
• Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Peru
• University of New South Wales (12 semifinalist teams), Australia

Participants and Submissions

The SOA Research Institute received submissions from 57 teams of students attending the following 27 universities, spanning 12 countries and 6 continents. A total of 251 students participated in the 2024 Challenge.

Key Dates for the 2024 Challenge

Materials

• Official rules
• Case study
• Online encyclopedia entry
• SuperLife Inforce Dataset 
• Key to SuperLife Inforce Dataset
• Lumaria mortality table
• Lumaria economic data
• Interventions
• Questions and Answers

Guidance Podcast

2024 Student Research Case Study Challenge Guidance

Previous Student Research Case Study Challenges

• 2023 Student Research Case Study Challenge
• 2022 Student Research Case Study Challenge
• 2021 Student Research Case Study Challenge
• 2020 Student Research Case Study Challenge
• 2019 Student Research Case Study Challenge
• 2018 Student Research Case Study Challenge
• 2017 Student Research Case Study Challenge
• 2016 Student Case Study Challenge

Questions and Comments

If you have any questions or comments, please email research@soa.org